On Sunday 14th May a large congregation attended the 10.30am Parish Communion service to celebrate, with Bishop Clive of Wolverhampton, the restoration and refurbishment of St Benedict Biscop Church. This has been a major project, over a number of years, that has entailed the building of a new meeting room/choir vestry, installing toilet facilities, replacing the old tiled floor and renovating the church stonework. The congregation, which included the Chair of the Parish Council, representatives of the various church uniformed organisations, representatives of other local ecumenical groups and staff from the architects involved, heard the Bishop thank all who had been involved and contributed to the work, making special mention of the role Revd. Paul Brown had played here. Towards the end of the service Sunday Club came into church to share in the celebrations, with Bishop Clive giving each child a model that had been made of the church which contained a box of Smarties – the first time, Bishop Clive admitted, that he had ever distributed Smarties at a church service! After the service the congregation enjoyed cakes and prosecco to bring a very enjoyable church celebration to a close.
Bishop Clive distributing the made up models of the church, each containing Smarties, to Sunday Club
The congregation enjoying the cakes and prosecco after the service
The dignitaries at the celebration service